Best of luck to you both for tomorrow's surgery. Just think, it's almost
over now.It really works in Kirk's favor that he's so young & going through
all this major surgery.He will heal faster & feel oh so much better down the
road.Prayers for strength & wishing Kirk & you the very best for a succesful
surgery & quick & complete recovery.

p.s. I agree with you on the chewies. What would we do without them.

I've Been Boo'd

I've been Frosted

Today is the oldest you've ever been, and the youngest you'll ever be again.

Heavenly Father- we ask you to bless this surgery. Relieve the fear in the owners heart, add diligence to the surgeon, and give relief to our precious pet. We ask this not for any worthines of our own but through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you Lord for this day, may it be of a true blessing. Thank you. In Jesus Name - amen..

Kirk did not end up having surgery on Thursday. Upon viewing the x-rays they discovered that he had bent his plate, thus narrowing his pelvis significantly. I can't say this came completely unexpectedly-- we did not follow post op instructions to the letter and I know that. However, I did not have complete control over that and what my father did; he did it with the best of intentions. But the surgeon told me he put in the LARGEST plate he could (thus the strongest) and he has had 60 lbs. dogs (twice Kirk's size) not bend this plate. This little dog has atrophied tiny back legs and is only 32 lbs, so I'm still not totally sure how the bending happened. Perhaps I should have expected as much from a border collie. I don't know...

At any rate, the plate is bent and one screw is slightly loosened, however at this point, 6 weeks out, the bone has healed around this. Thankfully it is not something that should cause him pain (and there is no reason to go back in and 'fix' anything), but it does affect the likely success of operating on the second hip in the same way.

The narrowing that has happened will leave only a TINY margin of error (for bending and thus greater narrowing) and this all GREATLY increases the chance for complications that could affect his ability to urinate/defecate in the future. This is a no-brainer for me; there is no reason to risk that IMO. They called me post x-rays and asked me to decide, TPO today or do we call it off (and maybe do a FHO later). I said wake him up, we're not doing the TPO! I felt some ambivalence just because I do not like to make decisions under time pressure, but after calling home and bawling to my Mom my reasoning kicked in and I realized that I made the right decision, no question.

One sad thing was of course they had shaved him already. He looks soo pitiful and skinny. He has been licking his butt area as a result of a close shave and now has some hot spots back there, so I had to put the cone on him. Little dork!! I'm washing the area with Hibiclens twice a day, and I will ask the doctor today if there is any reason to bring him in or if I can continue treating at home.

Well, there is GOOD news...
He can start walking now and we have been doing 10 mins. of leash walking (on flat ground only) twice a day for this first week. Then we will increase the time by 5-10 minutes each week. This may sound extreme, but if you could see his completely atrophied back legs, you would understand. We want to build up the muscle slowly and carefully. Oh wow, he loves being back to his walkies again. I love to see him so happy!!

Now if we can just get his butt healed and his poopies back to normal.... I have him on acidophilus and gave rice with his first couple meals home, but I may pick up some stronger antidiarrheals from the clinic. I would try pumpkin, but he has been picky about it in the past, finicky eater that he is...

So, the long term plan? Build up muscle first. See how well he does with one 'good' hip. Consider an FHO for the left side in the future. This procedure is not age sensitive and so we are free of the 'deadlines' of the TPO at this point. Thankfully he is a small dog, so the FHO is a feasible option. I am not sure how I feel about it yet, because I really spent all my time researching the TPO. The descriptor "salvage procedure" attached to it is certainly an unattractive term. Again, thankfully, there is no time pressure to make the decision, except in the case that he were in pain that we could not control with other methods. This is not the case as he seems very happy and mostly pain-free at this point (as far as I can tell).

I am trying to do my best to see the positive and not dwell on the negatives or the mistakes we may have made. We love him and we're doing the best we can by him.

Sorry I took so long to update, it has been a crazy and emotional week for many reasons. Thank you for thinking of us!!